Following the commercial success of Cloverfield and its sequel 10 Cloverfield Lane, speculation mounted that producer J.J. Abrams was developing additional franchise instalments. When a mysterious World War II science-fiction film emerged from Abrams' production company and Paramount, marketed with the same cryptic strategy as previous Cloverfield releases and developed around the same period as The Cloverfield Paradox, audiences believed they'd found evidence of an unannounced third instalment. The film's ambiguous promotion and timing fuelled this widespread assumption within fan communities.

Released in November 2018 under the title Overlord, the movie ultimately proved to be an original work rather than a franchise continuation. While The Cloverfield Paradox, which Paramount subsequently sold to Netflix, suffered critical rejection, Overlord charted an opposite course—earning favourable reviews upon release and organising a substantial cult following in the years since. The film stars Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, and Joseph Quinn.